Russ joined the Carpenters at their training facility in Pewaukee for a tour and endorsement event. The North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters represents over 11,000 Wisconsin carpenters and nearly 26,000 union members and their families across Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Russ met with members and apprentices at the Carpenters’ training facility in Pewaukee.

Traveling around Wisconsin, Russ consistently hears from Wisconsinites who are fed up with the state’s outdated infrastructure. Crumbling roads and bridges are literal obstacles to the success of Wisconsin’s students and small businesses, making it too difficult -- and sometimes dangerous -- to transport products and people to their destinations, and standing in the way of billions of dollars in revenue.

That’s why Russ introduced the Badger Innovation Plan, designed to jumpstart the state’s transportation infrastructure through a combination of state and federal investments. Russ knows we need a 21st century infrastructure for Wisconsin businesses to be competitive and our students to succeed.

Roger Zacharias, Representative, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters:

“Whether the issue is harmful trade agreements, infrastructure investment, Federal Prevailing Wage, or Right to Work legislation, Wisconsin US Senator Ron Johnson has proven time and again he is no friend of our members. It’s time to elect a US Senator who will fight for middle class workers and their families. Russ Feingold strongly supports issues that are important to our members and their families.”

The North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters is dedicated to protecting and elevating the economic and social condition of all workers. They partner with contractors to provide the industry with the best trained, most productive and safest workforce available. The superior productivity and skills that members bring to the job allow them to provide a better life for themselves, their families and their communities now and in the future.

Paul Ryan talks a lot about his commitment to our military, veterans, and their families. He says "I've voted to send men and women to war. I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan". So if Paul Ryan were so committed to fighting in Iraq, why did he not volunteer?

MOUNT PLEASANT, WI - Paul Ryan knows a lot about the military—even more than President Obama, according to him. He claimed, "I have more foreign policy experience coming into this job than President Obama, who sat on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, did coming into his," Ryan said, pointing to his 14 years in Congress on Face the Nation, September 12, 2012. "I've voted to send men and women to war. I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan. I've met with our troops to get their perspectives. I've been to the funerals, I've talked to the widows, I've talked to the wives, the moms and the dads. That's something. That matters.”

If Paul Ryan were so committed to fighting in Iraq, why did he not volunteer?

Further, there is not one scintilla of truth to Ryan’s hyperbole. Not one. He had no comment when the CIA discovered there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in 2005. That should have been evident to anyone with experience in foreign policy.

Ryan Solen saw the ravage of war on our soldiers first hand when he served as the Executive Officer of the 98th Medical Detachment (Combat Stress Control). He knows “the price of military conflict exceeds just money. It exceeds physical injury and does not end after a conflict is over.”

Ryan Solen recognizes that freedom comes at a cost willingly paid by the less than one percent of Americans that volunteer and proudly serve our country. Wisconsin was not unaffected by the casualties of the Iraq War: 124 of the state’s residents paid with their lives in defense of our country.

Ryan Solen served our country for 8 years of active duty, including his year-long deployment in Iraq. He has far more experience in the military than Paul Ryan.

That’s not hyperbole: it’s fact.

****

Ryan Solen is an Army veteran of the war in Iraq and is seeking to represent Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. He is a Digital Forensic Specialist and Computer Security Analyst. He is a married father of four and enjoys reading, writing, doing karate with his family, and relieves stress with his vintage Lego collection.

He is the Wisconsin Democratic Party’s Nominee to run for the U.S. House of Representatives to replace Paul Ryan. For more information, please visit www.solenforcongress.com.

“The time is way past due for Donald Trump to release his tax returns, as every other major party nominee has done for the past 40 years. The people of Wisconsin and the people of America deserve to know what Donald Trump is hiding,” said Senator Tammy Baldwin.

“We recently learned that Donald Trump’s business interests overseas could pose unprecedented conflicts of interest and threaten our national security. Trump needs to immediately release his tax returns to show the American people the extent of his international financial interests. The American people deserve transparency,” said Congressman Ron Kind.

“The people of Wisconsin deserve a President who meets the basic threshold for transparency. We need more insight into Donald Trump's business record other than his dispositions, lawsuits, and boastful rhetoric,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jennifer Shilling.

Last week’s report offers a disturbing preview of the foreign entanglements that could influence Donald Trump, should voters make the grave mistake of electing him president. We now know that over the course of decades, The Trump Organization has been financially involved in more than a dozen countries on five continents -- including Russia, Ukraine, Libya, Turkey, China, and Brazil. These new revelations bring greater urgency to the need for Trump to release his tax returns, so the American people can what influences he might be subject to.